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Originally from the planetAndo, Ponda Baba was a burly Aqualish thug who rescued Cornelius Evazan, a former doctor who was infamous for the cruelty he inflicted upon his patients, from a bounty hunter. The two formed a partnership and began to smugglespice for Jabba the Hutt. The pirates[1] were successful at their trade[5] and became wanted men.[2] Their working relationship wasn't always pleasant, however, and Baba even briefly considered turning Evazan in to collect the bounty on his head before realizing that their ongoing partnership was more profitable.[5] Still, the two considered each other friends[6][3] despite their differences.[5]

Cornelius Evazan and Ponda Baba on Jedha.

The pair eventually adopted the aliases "Roofoo" and "Sawkee", and when visiting Milvayne, they committed a series of crimes including kidnapping, forced servitude, a surgical alteration. The Milvayne AuthorityofficerTam Posla looked into their case and despite being taken off it by his superior officer he managed to track them to Jedha, where the two began creating the decraniated.[7] Posla travelled to Jedha to look for them and found their decraniated prototype Caysin Bog, whom he fell in love with.[8] While on their way off-world,[9] Baba and Evazan bumped into the rebel operatives Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor. Evazan told them to watch themselves and Andor said they would be careful. The two parties then continued their routes.[10] Baba and Evazan departed[9] from the city prior to its destruction by the Death Star[10] and travelled to the planet Tatooine.[2]

Baba and Evazan are confronted by Obi-wan Kenobi

Prior to the Battle of Yavin, Baba and Evazan were patrons at Chalmun's Cantina on Tatooine.[2] Bored and looking for excitement,[3] a drunk Baba[1] decided to pick a fight with Luke Skywalker,[3] a young farmboy. Evazan quickly escalated the argument, even beginning to threaten the boy before attracting the attention of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Skywalker's guardian.[2] The hermit attempted to ease tensions[11] by offering to purchase the pair drinks, but Evazan refused to back down and tossed Skywalker out of his way, and, along with Baba, drew his blaster pistol on the old man, despite the protest of Wuher, the cantina's bartender. Before the pirates were even able to discharge their weapons, however, Kenobi had already ignited hislightsaber,[2] swiftly removing Baba's right arm and wounding Evazan with a slash across his torso, decisively ending the argument.[3]

Following the altercation, those present in the cantina briefly turned to see what had transpired before returning to their business. However, a departing patron, Garouf Lafoe,[12] decided to inform a squad of Mos Eisley's sandtroopers of the attack.[11] After the troopers had entered the establishment and reached the counter, Wuher indicated to them where Kenobi and Skywalker had taken a seat, though the pair found another exit before they could be apprehended.[2] Evazan tried to reattach Baba's arm using his medical training, but ended up nearly killing the Aqualish in the process when the procedure failed.[13] Ponda would later regret bullying that 'blond human teenager.'[12]

Baba's severed arm eventually came into the hands of Posla when he continued investigating the pair. Posla put the arm in a jar and stored it on his ship.[15] Following Posla's death, Evazan stole the ship and rendezvoused with Baba in deep space. As he boarded Baba's ship, Evazan took Baba's arm with him to return to his companion.[16]

Ponda Baba wore an orange jacket, a brown pair of pants, a black pair of boots, and a black belt with a gold buckle which had a holster attached to its left side to carry his SE-14C blaster pistol.[2] Evazan gave Ponda a new cybernetic arm,[4] which replaced the arm he lost to Kenobi,[2] with a flamethrower installed into it.[4]

A walrus named Petulia was used by Ben Burtt to supply Ponda Baba's vocalizations, although Tim Veekhoven and Mark Newbold, the authors of the Star Wars Blog entry "Drawing from the Present: Familiar Creatures in a Galaxy Far, Far Away", were unable confirm whether the walrus was Petulia or not.[23] Baba also appears alongside Evazan in the 2016Anthology Series film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and was portrayed by an uncredited performer.[10]Rogue One writer Gary Whitta disagreed with Baba and Evazan's inclusion in the film, opining that he "thought having Evazan and Walrus Man was a little too much. You have to reign in that instinct to go back and put things in just because you loved them when you were a kid".[24]